URGENT ¥¥¥ Baghdad to resist spread of Syria conflict to Iraq

Baghdad will resist any attempts to spread the bloody conflict in Syria to Iraq, the prime minister's spokesman said on Monday, after gunmen killed 48 Syrian soldiers and nine Iraqi soldiers in an ambush.

"This confirms our fears of the attempt of some to move the conflict to Iraq, but we will face these attempts by all sides with all of our power," Ali Mussawi, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's spokesman, told AFP, putting the toll from Monday's ambush at 48 Syrian soldiers and nine Iraqi soldiers killed.